Off The Cuff with Gulzar

Renowned poet and lyricist Gulzar talked about music, politics, and his time with former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, at a packed Off The Cuff event in Delhi. Gulzar was in conversation with ThePrint’s Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta. Gulzar also talked about working with disabled children and raising a voice in India.

1Off The Cuff with Gulzar

2Off The Cuff with Gulzar

Gulzar said, “There have been periods of disappointments and uprisings in poetry from 1947 to now.”
Shekhar Gupta: “So is this a time of disappointment or uprising?”
Gulzar: “It’s very difficult to talk to you.”

3Off The Cuff with Gulzar

Ashutosh, spokesperson, AAP (L); Abhinandan Sekhri, co-founder & CEO, Newslaundary (R). Ashutosh asked, “All major rebellions in the world started from either literature or another creative field. But in India, both literature and film are silent on today’s political weather. Is this a political constraint or opportunism?

4Off The Cuff with Gulzar

From left: Rakesh Bharti Mittal, MD, Bharti Mobile Ltd.; Pavan Varma, former MP, Rajya Sabha; former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian and his family seated in the next row

5Off The Cuff with Gulzar

“As a poet, your entire work becomes an autobiography,” said Gulzar.

6Off The Cuff with Gulzar

Abhinandan Sekhri asked Gulzar: “Once you said that a film is not one’s own product. It is a result of a collaborative effort. But poetry reflects exactly what one wants to express. Would you ever make a movie despite that fact?”

7Off The Cuff with Gulzar

“It is interesting to note that Ghalib died in 1869 and the same year Gandhi was born,” Shekhar Gupta reminded the audience.

8Off The Cuff with Gulzar

Kalyani Shankar, consulting editor for ThePrint, asked Gulzar: “You were an insider to the left. Why is the left going down and why is the right going up?”

9Off The Cuff with Gulzar

“Leftists are weak today because they are not in power. But I still find them the most honest”: Gulzar

10Off The Cuff with Gulzar

“Vajpayeeji is of a very secular temperament,” said Gulzar on the former prime minister who’s also a poet.